Fond Memories
by ObsessiveFanNumber1
Summary: One-shot songfic about Keith & Mira with the song "Best Day" by Taylor Swift.  And there's some Mirace/AceXMira in there!  It's my first songfic, and I know it's kind of different from most songfics, but please read and review anyway!


**This is basically a songfic with Keith and Mira with the song "Best Day" by Taylor Swift. I've wanted to do this one for a while, but I didn't know what a songfic was for the longest time *embarrassed*. Finally, I read one for Ace and Mira, and I was like, "Oh, no duh!" So I decided I wanted to write one, and instantly, this one popped into my head! I know that this isn't exactly a typical songfic, but it's my first one, so please be nice!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

_**I'm five years old, it's getting cold, I've got my big coat on  
I hear your laugh and look up smiling at you, I run and run  
Past the pumpkin patch and the tractor rides, look now, the sky is gold  
I hug your legs and fall asleep on the way home**_

I don't know why all the trees change in the fall  
But I know you're not scared of anything at all  
Don't know if Snow White's house is near or far away  
But I know I had the best day with you today

"Keith, look!" Mira tugged on her brother's wrist excitedly, pointing at a snowman.

"Do you want to make one?" Keith asked gently. He was seven. Mira had just turned five. Their father would be at the lab for at least another several hours, past midnight, so Keith had snuck out, bought snow gear for himself and Mira, and brought her outside.

Mira nodded. Her cheeks were flushed from the cold, but her eyes shone.

Here was the hard part. Keith pointed at two boys working on their own snowman while a toddler watched them, fascinated. "Why don't we help them?"

Mira looked at them. Nervously, she glanced at her big brother.

One of the boys, who had purple hair and looked around Mira's age, caught her eye and waved at her. "Hey!" he called. "Do you want to give us a hand?"

Shyly, Mira nodded.

"Come on over!" the boy said. Mira's face lit up. She raced over, tugging Keith along behind her. The boy smiled at her and said, "I don't think I've seen you out here before."

"We don't have a lot of time to come outside," Keith said, giving Mira's hand a squeeze, silently telling her to agree. Mira nodded.

"Well, then, come on! We've got to finish this before dark," the boy said.

The other boy looked at the toddler. "I'd better get him out of the cold. His parents are gonna kill me if they come home and I'm not there with him." He picked up the toddler, waved, and ran off.

The purple-haired boy smiled at Mira and showed her how to make the snowballs and pile them on top of each other. Mira caught on quickly, finishing her first snowman before the boy even had a chance to make the body for his. Soon, the two of them were making entire colonies of snow-people, while Keith stayed back and watched.

When it started to get dark, a woman's voice called, "Time to go!"

The boy rubbed behind his head, embarrassed. "That's my mom. I've got to go." His hand dropped, and worry filled his eyes. "I'll see you out here again, right?"

"We'll do our best," Keith said, stepping forward and taking Mira's hand. "Besides, we probably should head back, too."

The purple-haired boy nodded, looked at Mira, smiled, and waved to her. "Bye!"

Mira smiled shyly at him. "Bye," she said softly. She leaned forward and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

The boy turned pink and ran off.

Keith smiled as he picked Mira up, even though she was getting too big for him to carry her much more. "I can tell _you_ had fun," he said, walking back to their house. "It's too bad we didn't catch his name."

"He was really nice," Mira said, closing her eyes and happily snuggling in closer. She fell asleep on the way home.

_**I'm thirteen now and don't know how my friends could be so mean  
I come home crying and you hold me tight and grab the keys  
And we drive and drive until we found a town far enough away  
And we talk and window shop 'til I've forgotten all their names**_

I don't know who I'm gonna talk to now at school  
But I know I'm laughing on the car ride home with you  
Don't know how long it's gonna take to feel okay  
But I know I had the best day with you today

"Mira, you know that you can't leave the house!" Clay raised his voice, exasperated with his daughter.

"But, Father—" thirteen-year-old Mira started.

_SLAP!_

Keith was standing in front of Mira. He'd shoved her to the ground behind him, and his right arm was up to block Clay's slap. The look in his eyes—confused, and yet not surprised—was more mature than a fifteen-year-old should have to deal with.

"Father, please, try to understand," Keith said—almost begged—softly. "I know you don't want us to leave. But..." He looked outside for a moment, but he turned his gaze back to Clay. "We can't see that every day and not wonder. Sneaking out may not be the right way to be out there, but it's our only way, since you won't let us outside. If you would just—"

"This isn't something I'm going to debate with you, Keith," Clay said sharply. "I'm your father. I know what's best for you." He turned away and left the room.

Tears streamed down Mira's face. "I didn't mean to make him so upset," she whispered. "I only asked why we can't leave."

Keith knelt next to her, putting his hand on her shoulder. "Are you alright, Mira?" he said, soft and serious as he always was about things like this. Trying to stop crying, Mira nodded. Relieved, Keith pulled his sister into a protective hug. He held her there, letting her cry.

Finally, when her tears had run dry, it was dark out. Keith held a finger to his lips and stood, pulling Mira to her feet at the same time. He glanced around; their father was nowhere in sight. Good. Keith cautiously opened the door, pulling his sister along behind him as he slipped outside.

"What about—" Mira started quietly.

Keith held his finger up to his lips again. "Father doesn't need to find out."

"But—"

"I'm not going to tell him. You aren't. And we'll be back before he even notices we're gone." Keith knew that Mira wanted to, but she was scared of how their father would react. Honestly, so was he, but he hid it for Mira's sake.

Hesitantly, Mira nodded. The two of them ended up staying outside for hours, simply enjoying everything that most people took for granted: window shopping, parks (even though they were both a little old for the playgrounds there)...essentially everything about the world outside their house.

Finally, at four in the morning, Keith noticed the sun rising. "Come on," he said, pulling Mira back toward the house. "Next time, we'll be able to do more, but for now, we need to go back. We can keep this hidden from Father easily."

Carefully happy, Mira nodded. She didn't care right now that it would be hard explaining why the two siblings were so tired. She didn't mind that she would still be stuck inside during the day. The night could be the time for freedom. That was enough.

_**I have an excellent father, his strength is making me stronger  
God smiles on my little brother, inside and out, he's better than I am  
I grew up in a pretty house and I had space to run  
And I had the best days with you**_

There is a video I found from back when I was three  
You set up a paint set in the kitchen and you're talking to me  
It's the age of princesses and pirate ships and the seven dwarfs  
And Daddy's smart and you're the prettiest lady in the whole wide world

Now, at sixteen, Mira smiled at her brother. "Remember, back when we were kids, that one day we snuck out?"

"Which day?" Keith asked.

"The one in winter. We ended up making whole tons of snow-people, remember?"

"You did," Keith said, smiling. "I stayed in back and watched."

"Why was that, anyway?"

"Honestly?"

Mira nodded.

Keith laughed. "Because I wasn't entirely sure how to make a snowman."

"You could've asked the boy!"

"And looked like an idiot in front of my five-year-old sister? No way."

"What are you two talking about?" Ace asked.

Mira sighed happily at the memory. "Back when we were still little, Keith and I snuck out all the time. One of the times, in winter, we ended up meeting a boy who taught me how to make snowmen. We spent all day together, but we never did find out each other's names...what is it?"

Ace looked extremely confused. "That day...did you kiss him on the cheek? Right before he ran off?"

Surprised and blushing a little, Mira nodded.

Keith's eyes widened, and he stared at Ace. "You're not saying..."

"What?" Mira looked at him.

Ace smiled, a little sadly. "You never had time to come back."

Mira's eyes widened with shock, and she gasped. "You—"

"I had a present the next day," Ace said, glancing at the ground, a hint of a blush coloring his face. "I kept bringing it every day for a whole year, but you never came back. Finally, Mom made me quit, but I think I still..." He dug around in his pocket and pulled something out, keeping his hand closed in a fist around it.

"You were-"

"Close your eyes."

Shocked, Mira did. Something rustled around her left wrist, and Ace said, "Now open them and look."

Mira did as he said and gasped. He'd slipped an ebony bracelet onto her wrist that had small black jewels spaced out all around it every few inches. It was beautiful. "Ace—"

"The black was because I already wanted to be a Darkus brawler," Ace said, hesitant and a bit embarrassed. "I wanted to give it to the girl who'd shown up, but she never came back."

"Ace..."

"But you have it now. That's the important thing." Ace glanced away, definitely embarrassed now.

Mira threw her arms around him. "It's beautiful," she whispered. "Thank you so much."

Ace gently hugged her back. "You're welcome."

Keith smiled and left the room, thinking three words: _It's about time._

_**And now I know why the all the trees change in the fall  
I know you were on my side even when I was wrong  
And I love you for giving me your eyes  
For staying back and watching me shine  
And I didn't know if you knew, so I'm takin' this chance to say  
That I had the best day with you today**_

**This is my first songfic, so please be kind! And definitely please review! (And yeah, the toddler in the first part was Baron, and the other kid was basically his babysitter since he's the oldest in his family.)**


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